Rent the Runway is a disruptive eCommerce business with a mission to democratize luxury in the U.S. simply, we believe that everybody deserves a Cinderella experience. We provide millions of women the ability to rent designer dresses, accessories and other essentials for a fraction of the retail price, allowing them to look, and more importantly, feel, beautiful for all of their special occasions. A goal of the company is to make rental a significant part of the retail industry our belief is that retail does not just have to be in the business of selling products but rather using products to deliver aspirational experiences. We will be expanding into new categories and countries in the short-term. Our platform is a much needed customer acquisition channel for the brand partners we work with, providing them access to a younger customer and important data.
Launched in November 2009, Rent the Runway has grown to be the leader in the global fashion rental space and is known as a Netflix for Fashion. We are backed by some of the top venture capitalists in the world including Kleiner Perkins, Highland Capital and Bain Capital Ventures. We’ve been recognized by The Today Show, Fortune, Fast Company, The New York Times, and Tech Crunch as one of the most innovative businesses in the U.S. Our team is filled with passionate go-getters who are always dreaming big, implementing their ideas, delivering an incredible experience to our customers and creating a fun, dynamic culture.
Jennifer Hyman is the Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Rent the Runway, a business that has transformed the retail industry by making designer dress and accessory rentals a convenient and accessible luxury experience for millions of women. Since Rent the Runways launch in November 2009, Jennifer has managed all areas of the business including technology, fashion, sales, marketing, operations, customer service and team management, while also serving as a company spokesperson. Most well-known within the entrepreneurial and fashion communities for her unmatched marketing abilities, Jennifer was named as the Chief Marketing Officer of Fortune magazines Executive Dream Team.
Jennifer has been honored with numerous recognitions including Fortune Magazines Trailblazers 2013, Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs, and 40 Under 40; Forbes Magazines Disruptors 2013; Crains New York Business 40 Under 40; Inc.
Jonathan Betz has served as the Senior Vice President of Engineering at Rent the Runway, a members-only online destination for designer dress and accessory rentals, since July 2011. His key areas of responsibility include site personalization and recommendation engines and seeking top talent in the engineer department.
Jonathan has been instrumental in creating a custom shopping experience for each Rent the Runway member using proprietary algorithms rivaling that of Netflix.
Prior to Rent the Runway Jonathan served as Yext’s Vice President of Engineering where he led the development of Yext Rep, Yext Tags and Yext Powerlistings, partnerships with MapQuest and Superpages and grew the engineering team from two to 16 within 18 months. He also led company expansion at Clickable as Senior Director of Engineering from fewer than ten customers to several hundred and developed proprietary recommendation algorithms for SEM optimization.
Amy McDowell helps in start-ups acquire scale and reach within the digital space.
Jennifer Fleiss is the President and co-founder of Rent the Runway, the premier online destination for designer dress and accessory rentals. Jenny and her co-founder, Jennifer Hyman, have built the company to include a revolving roster of over 150 designer brands, 25,000 dresses, 120 employees, and over 2 million members. The company has raised approximately $31 million in venture capital funding from Bain Capital Ventures, Highland Capital, and Kleiner Perkins.
In 2007, Jenny began at Harvard Business School where she met Jennifer Hyman. As sectionmates, the two women would meet frequently to discuss entrepreneurial ideas, one of which was Rent the Runway. Designed to solve the common closet full of clothes but nothing to wear problem, Jenn and Jenny launched Rent the Runway in November 2009.
Prior to Harvard Business School, Jenny worked at Morgan Stanley in the Strategic Planning Group crafting long-term company strategy.
Scott joined Bain Capital Ventures in 2006 after selling the company he co-founded, ProfitLogic, to Oracle. ProfitLogic was the leader in the world of retail analytics and price optimization solutions. Through the experience of building ProfitLogic from its initial three founders to a 300 person global software and solutions business serving the retail industry, Scott had the opportunity to get to know many of the most influential executives in the retail and apparel brand world. Not surprisingly, Scotts areas of investment interest since joining BCV have revolved around the retail ecosystem, both online and offline as well as the convergence of the two, and he finds himself splitting time between New York City and Boston.
Prior to Bain Capital Ventures, Scott was Chairman of the Executive Advisory Board and VP of Marketing & Science for Oracle Retail.
Dan joined Highland in 1996 as a General Partner to establish and build the firma’s internet investment practice. He also co-founded the Highland Consumer Fund, where he is Chair of the Investment Committee, and he is leading the firm’s expansion efforts into China.
He continues to be an active investor focusing on technology and consumer investments with specific experience and interest in internet, digital marketing and media technologies. Dan led the firm’s investments and has served on the boards of a number of successful companies including:
Ask Jeeves – IPO
BeFree – IPO
eToys – IPO
Fastclick – IPO, acquired by ValueClick
Gamesville – acquired by Lycos
Lycos – IPO
MapQuest – IPO, acquired by AOL
N2 Broadband – acquired by TANDBERG Television
Navic Networks – acquired by Microsoft
New York Times Digital – acquired by New York Times, Co
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Aileen Lee is Founder of Cowboy Ventures, a digital seed-stage focused fund founded in 2012, and a Partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, which she joined in 1999.
Aileen has been the Lead or Supporting Partner working with KPCB-backed companies such as Bloom Energy, Blue Nile (NASDAQ: Nile), Callaway Digital Arts, Friendster (acquired by MOL Global), Good Technology (acquired by MOT), One Kings Lane, Plum District, Rent the Runway, ShopKick, Tellme (Acquired by MSFT), and Zazzle.
She was also founding CEO of RMG Networks (RMGN, formerly Danoo) the leading digital out-of-home media network backed by KPCB and DAG. Prior to joining KPCB, Aileen worked at Gap Inc. in various Operating roles. She has also worked for Odwalla and for The North Face in brand and product Marketing.
Aileen began her career at Morgan Stanley in Technology Mergers & Acquisitions.
Eugene Istrati is a talented Computer Science professional, who leverages and brings value to web and mobile development, through creative and innovative technologies.
Ever since high school, Eugene was a top student, taking part in and being awarded at national and international contests in Mathematics, Physics and Computer Science.
Started carrier as a part time software programmer, developing in C++ and ASP with MSSQL support, he switched fast to open source community, being an active member of PHP and Zend world.
In 10+ years of continuous working experience, Mr. Istrati was part of the most brilliant teams, either as a freelancer, consultant or full time employee, creating and scaling websites and applications for different size companies, both in Europe and in US.
President & COO at Rent the Runway
Camille Fournier is currently serving as the Head of Engineering for Rent the Runway. Prior to coming to Rent the Runway, she worked for Goldman Sachs as a Vice President in the areas of risk technology and technology infrastructure. She is also currently serving as a committer and project management committee member for the Apache ZooKeeper project. She has a BS in Computer Science from Carnegie Mellon University and a MS in Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin Madison.
Sr. Director of Business Development at Rent the Runway
SVP of Product at Rent the Runway
VP of Supply Chain at Rent the Runway
SVP of Talent & Culture at Rent the Runway
VP of Merchandising at Rent the Runway
SVP Finance at Rent the Runway
VP of Operations at Rent the Runway
Sr Director of Public Relations at Rent the Runway
Director of Talent at Rent the Runway
HR Manager at Rent the Runway
Chief Analytics Officer at Rent the Runway